who we are

Meet the owners

John Zeller has been a native of Greene County for over 50 years and has a good connection here in the community. John opened an insurance agency in the fall of 2011 and has a long history of restoring and repurposing old buildings around Xenia. After renovating his office, he purchased another home on S Detroit St. that was in foreclosure in order to renovate and restore the home.

After a 10-year friendship with Charles Burton, John married his sister Cathy in 2006, and they decided to do a partnership for rental properties. Charlie has worked a day job with UPS for over 30 years and is a father of four. He is also very talented and skilled at putting square pegs in round holes.

In July 2017, while looking for a single-family dwelling, they ran into the Nesbitt House. Built in 1875, they saw great potential in the home but a whole lot of work. From the outside, it was very grown-up and not very well maintained. It was a walk-away task that neither of them wanted. They decided to do a walk-through and were spellbound by the woodwork, doors, and grand staircase. Their first reaction was to run fast, but instead, they put in a bid and decided to let God decide the fate of 136 W Second Street. In August 2017, the home closed for the brothers, and an LLC was established, BFC (Brothers for Christ).

The home was already on the Historic Register, so the brothers applied for Historical Preservation grants from State and Federal Historical, and both were awarded. For the next 6 years, the brothers worked tirelessly on the project until completion in the Fall of 2023. During the pandemic, the brothers took note that if all their investments were in rentals, if the tenant didn’t pay, they could be in real trouble. They decided to make two units BNB and two units apartments. John’s family was getting rid of his aunt and uncles’ estate, the late Russell & Mary Abernathy, through which several antique pieces were donated to the Nesbitt House. All the lighting was donated, coming from buildings torn down in Cincinnati, OH where his late uncle worked for many years. Mr. Abernathy would remove lighting from buildings and refurbish them into beautiful works of art.

The brothers have now made both downstairs units BNBs so that others may enjoy the step back into the past, reliving some of the charm of being at their grandparents home.